The former owner of BHS, Dominic Chappell, has been accused of being "a liar" who had his "fingers in the till" by top BHS managers.
The claims were made to MPs at a hearing into the collapse of the firm.
In a scathing attack, the ex-chief executive of BHS, Darren Topp, alleged Mr Chappell threatened to kill him in a row over company money.
Mr Chappell, whose Retail Acquisitions bought BHS for £1, is currently giving his side of the story.
He told MPs that his bid to buy the 163-store chain was very credible. "We brought a new pair of eyes, a strong turnaround team," he said.
Earlier, Mr Topp said he initially took Mr Chappell's claim to be a turnaround specialist and property expert at face value. When Mr Chappell's promises "unravelled", rather than "putting money in" he had "his fingers in the till," Mr Topp said.
'Premier League liar'
Former BHS financial consultant, Michael Hitchcock, was similarly scathing of Mr Chappell and his team. He told MPs: "I think I was duped. I think the technical term is a mythomaniac. The lay person's term is he was a premier league liar and a Sunday pub league retailer. At best."
He added: "The credibility and ability of the people Dominic surrounded himself with were not fit for purpose... I fundamentally don't think he understood what was going on.
"I question his intelligence, he wasn't a retailer. The motive was purely for his own benefit. There is a big smell test which I adopt in a lot of these situations, and it just did not smell right," Mr Hitchcock said.
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'Death threat'
Mr Chappell, a former racing driver with limited retail experience, had promised to put millions of pounds into a BHS after he bought it from Sir Philip Green's Arcadia group.
He previously said that his business plan for BHS was fundamentally sound and the retailer could have survived if he been able to raise sufficient funds.
However, there are questions over his decision to transfer money out of the company, funds that were later returned at the demand of former executives. Mr Topp alleged that Mr Chappell threatened to kill him when he questioned him over the £1.5m transfer of the money to Sweden.
Meanwhile, Mr Hitchcock said he was forced to change the company's bank mandate to "stop any chance of money flowing outside of the business".
'Heavily conflicted'
During his questioning, Mr Chappell said Sir Philip could have done more to help save BHS, rather than tip it into administration.
Arcadia was a major secured creditor, and it was Sir Philip who took the decision to call in administrators Duff & Phelps, Mr Chappell said.
He also accused administrator Duff & Phelps of being "heavily conflicted" because of its close connection with Sir Philip, describing the firm as the billionaire's "pony".
Mr Chappell also said he was looking at launching a legal suit against Arcadia and Sir Philip over a BHS property sale by the tycoon to his stepson. He claimed that BHS missed out on £3.5m because of it.
MPs have already taken evidence from the pensions regulator and financial advisers on the sale of BHS to Retail Acquisitions. Sir Philip is due to appear later this month.
The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and the Work and Pensions Committee are hearing evidence into the collapse of the 163-store group, which resulted in up to 11,000 jobs losses and left a huge hole in the pension fund.
Duff & Phelps announced last month that BHS will be wound down with the loss of up to 11,000 jobs after efforts to find a buyer failed.
BHS, which went into administration in April after the company ran out of money and could not pay suppliers, is holding closing down sales over the coming weeks.
163
stores to close
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11,000 jobs at risk, including
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8,000 members of staff and
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3,000 non-BHS employees who work in the stores
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